Local knowledge went a long way as West Indies spinner Shane Shillingford stole the show on day one of Australia’s third Test in the Caribbean.
Shillingford, the first Dominican to play a Test for the Windies on home soil, delighted a Windsor Park crowd with four wickets as Australia reached 7-212 at stumps on Monday.
The tall off-spinner was the star of the day on his home wicket, removing David Warner, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey to stun Australia and end the day with 4-77 off 34 overs.
Only some late resistance by Matthew Wade (22no) and Mitchell Starc (24no) in an unbeaten 43-run stand gave Australia hope of posting a competitive score.
Troubling Australia’s batsmen all day with his bounce and turn after Clarke won the toss and chose to bat first, Shillingford begun his golden run by removing Warner after the lunch break.
The left-handed opener, who added 83 for the second wicket with Shane Watson (41), had just reached 50 for the first time in the series when he chipped a ball that bounced on him straight to Kieran Powell at cover-point.
From there it was the Shillingford show as Ponting (23) – who passed Rahul Dravid to become the second highest run-scorer in Test history during his knock – and Clarke (24) were both eventually dismissed off close-in catches after being struggling to combat the spinner’s bounce and turn.
The day’s highlight then arrived when Windies skipper Darren Sammy, who had dropped an easy catch off Ravi Rampaul earlier in the day, took a diving effort to his left at slip to remove Michael Hussey (10) for Shillingford’s best figures in his six-Test career.
Earlier Rampaul (1-44), playing in place of Fidel Edwards, made an instant impact when he trapped opener Ed Cowan (1) LBW with the left-hander failing to offer a shot to a delivery that straighted.
Sammy (1-32) made up for his drop when he lured Watson to top-edge a delivery down backward square-leg’s throat, opening the door for Shillingford to take centre-stage.
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